Are You Happy?
by Hinano Kinsuke
Summary: "I'm happy, Okaa-san. Are you?" he asked, smiling. "I'm happy as long as you and Kyousuke are happy," she told him, earnestly. [Tsurugi family-centric]


**Hello, it's been a while (a few months before the last update?)! So, I've heard that there's a surge of rule-breaking fanfictions again. Didn't the forum I put up help the least? *sad face***

**I hope we'll come to a solution (where everyone will be happy with it) soon. **

**Meanwhile, enjoy 'Are You Happy?'! This will center around Tsurugi Yuuichi and Tsurugi Kyousuke's mother. She was never mentioned in the series, but I'm quite sure this is how she felt about her sons.  
**

**'Okaa-san' means 'mother'.**

**'Nii-san' means 'brother'. **

**I thought about keeping these in Japanese, so there would be chemistry between the characters. Hope you won't mind.**

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**Are You Happy?**

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She landed a momentary look on her leather wristwatch as she quickly marched down the hallway, her thighs brushing against her pencil skirt. The traffic jam took her half an hour to reach the hospital, giving her only fifteen minutes to see Yuuichi before she had to rush to her office again.

The boy insisted that she should go for lunch break instead of coming over, but her maternal instincts would not let her do so. She just had to come and see her son, even if it meant missing lunch break.

She stood before the door, self-consciously combing her hair back using her fingers; pulling her vest down neatly, not wanting to look as _tired_ as she really was when facing her son.

Her clothes felt unusually loose on her petite frame, to which she realized how much weight she had lost in the past few months. Not to mention the nights she'd lost, as she took a part-time job as a cashier to earn extra money.

The only thing that kept her standing upright was caffeine…

"I can't believe it, Kyousuke… You've betrayed soccer, the sport that we both love _so much_!" Yuuichi cried on the other side of the door, snapping her out of her miserable thoughts. "Go! Get out of here!"

She cocked her head to one side, peeking through the half-closed door. _What's going on?_

_Oh my, are those… Tears falling from Yuuichi's eyes? _

"Nii-san…" the other voice coaxed with a tone of regret.

_Kyousuke... _

She turned around and leaned against the wall as the door slid open, and Kyousuke came out with his hands dug in his pockets.

"Kyousuke…" she mouthed, reaching for her younger son. Was it just her imagination, or was Kyousuke getting _skinnier_?

"Okaa-san," he said as he caught a glimpse of her; his face contorted with shock. "Why are you—"

They stood in silence, staring at each other until he broke their eye contact, turning away towards the lobby. He could not face her… Not when he had to keep a dirty secret as one of Fifth Sector's SEEDs.

"Kyousuke!" she called worriedly, but he disappeared behind the corner.

She heaved a heavy sigh and entered the room, putting on the most cheerful smile on her face, despite the tugging force she felt on her chest. Yuuichi was looking out of the window, still sobbing, still clenching on the blanket that covered his legs.

_His paralyzed legs… _

Damn, she could not cry here. Not in front of her son.

"Hey," she said, giving a soft tap on her son's hand.

Yuuichi looked at her, but turned away to wipe his tears and snot with the edge of his sleeves. Moments later, he faced her again and faked a smile, "Okaa-san. You skip your lunch again today."

"I suddenly felt like eating hospital food," she joked, and he laughed a bit.

"You look tired," he said worriedly. "You shouldn't be doing this."

"Just a little bit more, and we'll be out of here," she said, still smiling. "And don't worry, I'm fine. I'm a supermom after all."

His expression fell. She thought he was going to laugh at her statement but he did not. Instead, he bowed his head low and sighed.

"Why is everyone like this?" he muttered, clenching the blanket tightly in his palms, once again. "I didn't ask you to heal my legs. Don't you believe in me, Okaa-san? Doesn't Kyousuke believe in me either? I can do it myself. I will try, and I will get to stand on my two legs _again_. Even _without_ the operation."

_…perhaps. _

"I want the best for my son," she said hesitantly; almost bursting into tears.

"I want the best for Okaa-san as well. And I want the best for Kyousuke," he said coldly and looked at her again. "Don't overwork yourself, okay? You know what they say, if there is a way in, there is a way out."

"Maybe this is the only way out, Yuuichi," she told him. "I have to keep trying. I love you. I love Kyousuke. And as a mother, I feel obliged to make my children happy."

"Okaa-san," he said. "I'm happy, just as long as we're together."

She looked at her son fondly and caressed the back of his hand gently. As they smiled to each other, the door slid open behind them, revealing Fuyuka and a tray of bland-looking meals for Yuuichi.

"Lunch time—oh, good afternoon Mrs. Tsurugi," the nurse said, placing the tray on top of the table.

"Good afternoon," she smiled warmly at her as she served the meal.

"You said you wanted to eat hospital food, right?" Yuuichi said teasingly and scooped the porridge, carefully handing it to his mother.

"Careful, it's hot," Fuyuka warned.

"Fuyuka-san, can you turn the TV on?" Yuuichi said, slowly blowing the porridge to cool it off a bit.

Fuyuka smiled and turned it on, immediately switching to the sports' channel. She then excused herself from the room, leaving the tray on the table.

A football match between Raimon and Teikoku Academy was being aired at the time, and there was he, the navy-haired striker, completing Ultimate Thunder perfectly with his powerful kick. The shoot went straight through Teikoku's defense, giving a chance for Raimon to score their very first point.

"That's…" she blinked her eyes and looked at Yuuichi. "Kyousuke…"

_No wonder he was such in a hurry…_

"Do you know what, Okaa-san?" Yuuichi said, smiling contentedly to himself. "I don't have to be in that match to be happy. Seeing Kyousuke playing real soccer… Is enough for me."

Upon hearing that, she regained her smile once again. It's like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders…

_I'm happy, Okaa-san. Are you?_

_ I'm happy as long as you and Kyousuke are happy. _

_Do you love me, Okaa-san? _

_More than how you and Kyousuke love soccer. _

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**Thank you for reading!**

**By the way, for your information (although you don't really have to know), I'm thirteen days away from my O-Levels… and guess what? I'm still slacking off like a boss. **

**Wish me luck. **


End file.
